( extracted from lankaleft.com ).................................................................................................Aksharaya; A new avenue to enhance the discourse on child rights, sex and sexuality

Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe

Chairman of the Sri Lanka Film Corporation Asoka Serasinghe argues that the Minister of Cultural Affairs has the powers to revoke the permission granted by the Public Performances Board for Ashoka Handagama's latest film 'Aksharaya' and therefore permission for public performance is not available for the film now.

The charge levelled against Handagama is, causing a child abuse when shooting the film. We admit that the relevant authorities have powers to conduct such an investigation. The code of ethics should be thoroughly followed by directors when using children for the films that contain adult themes.

Child rights, nude and art are entirely different disciplines. Titus Thotawatta's renowned children's film Handaya also contained a scene of a child being stripped off his pants. Each and every nude scene does not convey sexual signals. And on the other hand discussing sexuality in a work of art is not an abuse. Sex is not a crime after all. It is a basic human pleasure. Only rape is a crime. All the modern concepts that restrict the freedom of the man has been introduced to avoid rape of any sort and not to curb the human pleasure.

Serasinghe's close ally Somaratna Dissanayaka's films such as 'Samanala Thtu' and 'Suriya Arana' also show nude scenes of little boys. These films were shown to the public throughout the country, including many school shows. At that time media questioned about the use of these nude scenes that many said thrust unnecessarily into the film. But there were no Children's and Women's Bureaus and Child Protection Authorities to investigate them. Why?

Buddha Sasana Ministry of Sri Lanka is busy now looking for 2550 underage children to make ordained to commemorate the 2550th anniversary of the passing away of the Lord Buddha. Under what human principle is this not a child right violation and a child abuse? It is not necessary to mention the sex abuses. But there is nobody to question this gross violation of child rights. No Children's and Women's Bureaus and Child Protection Authorities to investigate them. Why?

We have not watched Handagama's film or its shooting. Therefore we have no idea whether he caused a child abuse or not. It is up to the authorities to investigate it. Nevertheless the artist and the work of art should be taken separately. Investigators can punish the artist if s/he is found guilty, but not the work of art. Not only child rights but freedom of expression is also equally important.

But we dare to say that all these rabble-rousing is not because the country is so much concerned on child rights. There is not much concern about the inhuman physical and mental abuses imposed on children at there own homes and especially in schools. There is less concern about the child labour widely spread from domestic work to the government wages board approved coconut and spice plantation labour. Most unfortunate thing is that everybody is silent about the government sponsored gross child right violation conducted through the ordaining of innocent children. If giving away children to fat, old monks to be seduced freely is not an abuse nothing is an abuse and child rights are a non-existence.

Where is UNICEF? The prestigious UN body should be alert not only about the child soldiers but the child monks also in Sri Lanka.

We challenge that this move of the government to ban the film 'Aksharaya' is thoroughly politically motivated. This agitation was begun by a bunch of Sinhala chauvinist jealousy artists who themselves have committed the acts Handagama has done, to hit the political ideas Handagama and similar artists bear. In that sense we are not afraid to stand for Handagama's ideas, at least for the freedom of expressing them.

However this debate has opened up a new avenue to enhance the discourse about child rights, art and sexuality.